Bigger Zafira aims at Galaxy

Vauxhall has stuck closely to concept car looks with the production version of its upmarket Zafira Tourer, revealed here in the first official images ahead of a debut in the autumn.

The Tourer is designed to be Vauxhall’s rival for the premium-priced Ford Galaxy, sitting above the current Zafira in the line-up. It uses components from the Insignia platform and gets a version of that car’s suspension set-up. FlexRide adaptive damping will be optional; it offers three settings that favour ride comfort or body control.

Designed by the team led by Briton Mark Adams, the Tourer gets what GM calls ‘boomerang’ lines around its headlights and front grille, a pronounced belt line and a version of the side blade that’s appeared on the new Astra, Insignia and Meriva.

Inside, there’s a revised version of Vauxhall’s Flex7 seating, with three movable seats in the middle row instead of a single bench. The car’s wheelbase is 57mm longer than the regular Zafira, allowing a greater range of movement in the cabin (the outer seats can move through 280mm, a gain of 80mm) and more boot space. With five seats fitted, the Tourer offers 710 litres (65 more than the current Zafira); this figure rises to 1860 litres when all rear seats are down.

The features offered, as standard fit and as options, include adaptive cruise control with collision avoidance braking, lane departure warning and traffic sign recognition, forward collision alert, blindspot alert and park assist. FlexFix, Vauxhall’s bicycle mounting system hidden in the rear bumper, will also be available. The Tourer will be offered with three versions of Vauxhall’s 2.0-litre common-rail diesel, producing 108bhp, 128bhp and 163bhp. Petrol options include a 138bhp 1.4-litre turbo and a normally aspirated 1.8 with the same output. Vauxhall says stop-start will be offered, but hasn’t said on which powerplants yet.

Standard gearbox will be a six-speed manual, but the larger petrol motor gets a five-speeder. Vauxhall will start taking orders before the end of this year. John McIlroy